Billy Hughes

William Morris "Billy" Hughes (25 September 1862-28 October 1952) was Prime Minister of Australia from 27 October 1915 to 9 February 1923, succeeding Andrew Fisher and preceding Stanley Bruce. Originally a member of the Australian Labor Party, he switched his allegiance to the Nationalist Party of Australia in 1917.

Biography
Billy Hughes was born in London of Welsh origin, and he emigrated to Australia in 1884, settling in Balmain in 1890. He soon became active in the Australian Labor Party, and was elected to the parliament of New South Wales in 1894, where he proved to be a clever tactician and effective orator. Despite his opposition to the establishment of the Australian Federation on the actual terms, he became involved in federal politics and was elected to the the House of Representatives in 1901. Following his qualification as a barrister in 1903, he became Attorney-General in Andrew Fisher's cabinets from 1908, supporting the latter in reducing the power of the individual states. He managed to realize this as Prime Minister by using the exigencies of World War I in order to strengthen the powers of the federal government. He misjudged public opinion and opinion within his own party by advocating conscription for overseas military service in 1916. For this, he was expelled from the Labor Party, together with other proponents such as Chris Watson. With his followers, he merged with the opposition to form the Nationalist Party of Australia, which won a resounding victory in the 1917 elections, though in this new environment, cut off from his political grass roots, he never commanded the authority or adulation which he had enjoyed with Labor. Nevertheless, his position was still strong enough to survive another defeat on the conscription issue in December 1917.

At the Paris Peace Conference he successfully advocated Australia's interests, securing control over German New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea) and the maintenance of a "White Australia" policy. After performing badly in the 1922 elections he was forced to resign by the refusal of Earle Page to support him. Increasingly critical of the Bruce-Paige ministry, he brought down the government in 1929, leading to its defeat in the ensuing general elections. In return, he was expelled from the Nationalist Party and attempted to form a new party, the Australian Party, but in 1934 he joined the Lyons ministry as member of the United Australia Party. Forced to resign in 1935 owing to his open disagreement with the government oer its handling of Italy's invasion of Abyssinia, he returned as minister in 1937. In 1941, he became leader of the UAP, but soon found it easier to cooperate with the Labor government than with his own party. Expelled from his party yet again in 1944, he joined the Liberal Party of Australia in 1945, and remained in the House of Representatives until his death.